All We Are and What We Seem
by TanteKJ
Summary: All we are and what we seem is but a dream within a dream - Edgar Allan Poe


I own not the Sound of Music or any of its characters.

The title is a line from the poem "A Dream Within a Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe

**"All We Are and What We Seem"**

Soft whimpers pulled Georg from his slumber. Opening his eyes, he saw his gentle wife thrashing beside him, his heart constricting for her.

"Another nightmare." he thought.

Shortly after their marriage she had filled him in on the details of her 'wicked childhood' after a particularly vicious nightmare had interrupted both their slumbers. Since then, he'd, sadly, grown accustomed to this haunting.

Reaching over to her, Georg's hand suddenly drew back as if scalded.  
"No," he breathed.  
Panic rising in him, Georg reached for his bedside table blindly. He somehow managed to switch on the light before reaching to where the telephone should have rested, his fingers instead landing on something cold and hard.

Bringing the object before his eyes, he saw what it was.  
His blasted whistle.  
In another time he would have laughed at the absurdity of it all but nothing was funny now  
Bringing the cold metal to his lips he filled his lungs with air and blew. The shrill sound pierced the nighttime walls of the Villa and brought Franz, Frau Schmidt, and his three oldest to his room.

"Captain?" His housekeeper asked breathlessly.

"Call for a doctor!" Georg barked.

"Father? What's happened?"

Georg looked to the small group and, with a terrified whisper, he answered "the fever."

Several torturous hours later the doctor emerged from the master bedroom, a grim look darkening his features. Making eye contact with the Captain he said only two words, "I'm sorry."

His heart breaking in his chest, Georg burst into the room, his eyes falling on his wife where she lay on their bed.

"Maria" he whispered.

Moving to her side, he took a limp hand and held it in his strong ones.  
His nightmare had come true.  
She gazed up at him then, her glassy blue eyes struggling to focus.  
"Georg?"  
Her usually melodic voice, now so weak and small, reached his ears.  
"Shhh, my darling." he whispered, dropping to her side. "I'm here."

"I'm so tired."

"Just rest, darling." He said softly, his gaze never wavering as her eyes closed again.

His knees dug into the carpeted floor as he bowed his head in prayer.

To her.

For her.

Because of her.

I love you, Maria.  
Her name was his prayer.  
A gentle hand combed through his hair as hot tears tracked his cheeks.  
"No. Please no. Not again. Maria. Please."

His prayer became a mantra as he pleaded for her; for himself; for their family.

He heard her voice say his name, his mind playing tricks on him he was certain, as her tone grew stronger.  
"Georg. Georg, darling, wake up."  
He lifted his head then, his eyes snapping open and a shuddering breath rocking his body.  
No longer did he pray beside her but instead cuddled next to her in their large bed.

"Darling."

There was her voice again.

"Darling, it was a dream. Are you alright?"

His eyes flew to the place where her voice called to him. His wide eyes met hers, the blue clear and bright, no longer glassy and feverish.  
"My love." he whispered  
"Darling? Are you alright?" She asked, the melody back in her tone.  
He spoke not a word but rather pulled her body tight against his, shuddering as strong arms wrapped around her light frame. The heat from his hands bled through her nightgown, her skin cool to the touch, no longer hot and clammy.

She was here.

She was safe.

She was fine.

Slowly coming back to his senses, Georg realized he was with Maria in their new house in America, no longer in Salzburg at the Villa.

It had been a dream, a nightmare of epic proportions.

Maria, having heard his cries and felt his tears, held her husband to her breast tightly for a beat before pulling away and meeting his eyes.

"I'm here, Darling. I'm alright. It was just a dream."  
She kissed his lips softly.

"Tell me?" She asked gently.

Georg shook his head before meeting her eyes again.

"I don't want - "

Maria took his hands in hers as his voice failed him.

"Take a deep breath. She offered.

He did as she suggested, his eyes studying their joined hands before finding her eyes again.

"You...succumbed to the fever."

His tortured admission tore through her, her heart breaking for him.

"Darling..." She breathed.

Georg tore his gaze from hers then, shaking his head as if to clear his mind of the images.

Maria watched him for a beat before lifting their joined hands towards her face and maneuvering them so that his palms rested against her cheeks.

"Feel me." She said.

"What?"

He was clearly confused by both her words and actions.

"Feel me." She said. "Feel my skin. My cheeks, my face."

She moved his hands again.

"My chest, my arms, my hands. All cool."

He came back to himself fully then, relief flooding through him as the coolness of her skin wrapped around his senses.  
"I'm fine." She repeated.  
"Maria...It was only a dream?"  
"Yes, my darling."

Georg shook his head.  
"It was a nightmare."  
"Yes, my darling."

Gratitude and love overwhelmed Georg's heart for this woman before him.

Wrapping his arms around his wife, the two tumbled back on their bed.  
Fate would not be a cruel mistress this night.  
"I love you, Maria."  
"And I you, Georg."

Together, husband and wife drifted back into a restful, dreamless sleep.


End file.
